Adults may say, "They're too young to understand, so it's probably better if we don't talk to them about it," assuming young age protects children from the impact of traumatic experiences, abuse, neglect, home violence, accidents, or the loss of a caregiver. With no way to verbalize what they have experienced, a child's symptoms take the form of psychological, social or physical problems, tantrums, memory issues, anxiety, These problems can last a lifetime."

What is the purpose of the StoryBook Art Project and how is the work used?How does it teach about childhood difficulties, trauma, and encourage resilience?

Art enables to us to discuss complex and difficult topics more easily. A picture, they say, is worth a thousand words.The StoryBook Project, first exhibited in July, 2016, brings the latest research on these important topics to audiences in the form of a Storybook and characters. It also serves as a children's nonprofit fundraiser.The landscape and work of the project illustrates the journey of our children as they learn to recognize, understand and convey feelings. Each illustration serves as a point for discussion with questions and links. The series is informed and accompanied by the latest research from the Centers for Disease Control on childhood resiliency.Understanding Adverse Child Events, Trauma, and ResilienceThe CDC &Kaiser Permanente's ACE Study and Findings: An Unexpected Discovery

The ability of our children to understand their emotions, as with any skill, comes with progressive mastery - education, understanding, and practice.

What happens when our children encounter trauma, like bullying, loss of a caregiver, neglect or abuse?Are children resilient? Do they "get over" these experiences? This is what StoryBook explores.

Research shows our children may encounter resiliency roadblocks that we may be unaware of. This happensnot through any fault of ours, but partly because we have historically believed children to be inherently emotionally resilient.When a child doesn't appear to react to a frightening experience, or reacts differently than an adult would, oftentimes we assume the child was unaffected by that experience. However, a child will "speak" to himself about his own feelings, interpret whether those feelings are bad or good, and decide how to act upon them. Our children aren't born with this ability. They learn their inner dialogue and action skills from us, and from what they see modeled in our relationships, and in our communities. For the best outcomes, we must first understand that children's emotions and development are occurring right in front of us. We may not see that process in action; however, they are self-educating. Their neurological development is affected as well; that too impacts a child. Too much trauma, and the nervous system becomes highly sensitized, the child may become over reactive or become emotionally numb.I hope that contributing to the emerging discussion, by learning and staying abreast of this evolving research, we can raise healthier children, families, communities.

How to Use This WorkThe StoryBook Characters - posts in progress

Fatigue & Sleep: The Sleepy Cat. This character represents that what is not dealt with emotionally in the daytime may emerge as nightmares or poor sleep. Impulse control suffers. Discussion:How do children function when sleep and fatigue becomes a problem because of emotional concerns? How does that impact learning? Social skills? How can we help?

As he enters the world, each child begins learning about his sense of value and how to use his emotions to survive.

Painful Emotions: The Sad Basset. This character is sadness. Sadness is a normal emotion that we all experience. Sometimes that feeling is overwhelming, misunderstood or emerges as other emotions. If pushed away, sadness comes back. The rainbow ears on the Basset are a reminder that other emotions will return if a child can allow sadness to pass through.Discussion:How can we know a child is grieving or sad if he doesn't show it like an adult? How do we help him let it pass through? When a child doesn't show grief like an adult, does it mean he doesn't feel it?

Encouraging Strength of Spirit: Children may be labeled weak, emotional, withdrawn, aggressive, difficult. However, they may be doing the best they can under difficult circumstances.

Discussion: How do we recognize a child's emotions as her greatest strength, and help her to find a way to channel them positively? Does labeling a child help? Is it possible to consider feelings as energy to be used? What helps a child trust us enough to confide his or her deepest feelings?

Future Plans for the Series

One on one donations. For every large piece sold, I will donate a poster to a nonprofit serving children. The organization can auction the piece, or they may hang it for discussion with stakeholders, caretakers, children, donors.

Each time the work is shown, relevant updated resources will accompany it.